José Aldo’s preparations to win over Canadian crowd

UFC 129: Lyoto Machida Honored to Send Randy Couture into Retirement

Lyoto Machida is one of those fighters who people have an endless amount of opinions about. Some say he’s too boring. Others say his approach is too soft, which leads to him not finishing fights the way he’s capable of.

Say what you will, but one of the things that stands out about the Black House fighter is his honor. You won’t catch him in a back-and-forth, trash talking trade-off in the weeks leading up to one of his fights. Even comments from someone as vocal as Quinton “Rampage” Jackson don’t seem to awaken “The Dragon.”

The guy has the utmost respect for everyone he steps into the Octagon with. The case is the same with his pending UFC 129 fight against Randy Couture. When it comes to fighting “The Natural,” Machida talks about how honorable it is to battle the five-time UFC champion in what Couture is adamant is his retirement fight.

“It’s an honor,” Machida said recently through his interpreter and manager, Ed Soares. “It’s an honor to fight someone like Randy Couture and I feel that Randy Couture has helped build the history in this sport.”

Again, it’s not the pre-fight talk that fuels Machida’s drive to compete. History will show us that the banter before a bout can get a little ugly and out of hand – refer to the weeks leading up to the Jorge Rivera-Michael Bisping fight from UFC 127 and you’ll recall how pre-fight talk can get a tad bit crazy.

Instead of getting into a talking tug of war, Machida meditates – and probably sips on the occasional cup of urine – in preparation for his fight. The knowledge that he is entering the Octagon to challenge a man who has been on this planet for nearly 48 years, and collected more MMA accolades than most can ever imagine is motivation enough get out there and perform at his best.

Couture played an enormous role in making mixed martial arts what it is today. According to Machida, the only appropriate way to thank Couture for his years of blood, sweat, and tears is by testing him to his limit. He plans on mustering up the best Machida he can on fight night.

“He’s helped build the sport to what it is today,” Machida said. “And I just feel honored to be able to fight him and I feel that, out of respect, I want to give my best to Randy Couture on that night.”

The role of being the one to see Couture off into retirement first-hand is a big deal. It certainly gives the resume a little boost. To be “that guy” is something to hold onto and warrants a notch on the belt.

“I think that this plays an important part not only in history to be the last guy to fight Randy Couture, but this plays a big part in my career to have a legend like Randy on my resume,” said the former UFC light heavyweight champion.

Like Machida, Couture is also feeling the honor of stepping into the Octagon, but it’s not because it’s his last fight. To him, being in his last fight in the UFC is no different from being in his first fight in the Las Vegas-based promotion. The thing that sticks out for Couture is just being part of the ride – a ride that’s lasted nearly 14 years.

The fact that he’s sharing his final 15 minutes in the eight-sided cage with a competitor the quality of Lyoto Machida is also something he feels fortunate for.

“I’m excited to be a part of it,” Couture said recently. “Last fight or five more fights, it doesn’t really matter. It’s still an honor to both be a part of this show and to be fighting Lyoto, so it’s going to be great.”

UFC 129 Fan Guide: Events Open To The Fans in Toronto (Updated)

UFC 129: St-Pierre vs. Shields is set for Saturday, April 30, at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. There are numerous events for fans to attend during fight week, including a special two-day UFC Fan Expo along with the usual goings-on at a UFC event.

Be sure to check the list frequently, we’ll be updating it as we learn of more fan friendly events surrounding UFC 129 in Toronto.

Check out the list below…

Tuesday, April 26:

4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
AUTOGRAPH SIGNINGS
Meet UFC fighters and Octagon Girls

Ryan Bader and Sam Stout at Sport Chek Square One
199 Rathburn Rd
Mississauga,L5B 2C9

Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch at National Sports Pickering
699 Kingston Rd
Pickering, L1V 3N7

Dominick Cruz and Chandella at Athletes World
Vaughan Mills, 1 Bass Pro mills Drive
Vaughan, L4K 5W4

Wednesday, April 27

12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. ET
UFC 129 PRE-FIGHT PRESS CONFERENCE
Heritage Court – Direct Energy Centre
100 Princes’ Blvd., Toronto
with Dana White, Tom Wright, Georges St-Pierre, Jake Shields, Jose Aldo, Mark Hominick, Randy Couture and Lyoto Machida

Thursday, April 28

12:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. ET
UFC TAKEOVER TORONTO
Yonge-Dundas Square
South-East corner of Yonge and Dundas Streets, Toronto
Free interactive fan event with appearances by fighters, Octagon girls and more
12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. ET Ryan Bader and Jon Fitch
3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. ET Dominick Cruz and Octagon Girl Chandella
6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. ET Ryan Bader and Jon Fitch

3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. ET
XYIENCE AUTOGRAPH SIGNING WITH FRANK MIR
Mac’s Convenience Store
144 Dundas St. W.
Toronto, ON   M5G 1C3

7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
NO-GI CLASS WITH JOE LAUZON
Musashi Mixed Martial Arts
41 King Street Unit #3,
Barrie Ontario, L4N 6B5
$20 for non-members, RSVP to info@musashimartialarts.ca

8:30 p.m.
JOE LAUZON APPEARANCE
PIE – Wood Fired Pizza
Located beside the Cineplex and Goodlife Fitness
34 Commerce Park Drive,
Barrie, Ontario L4N 1X8
TEL: 705-725-WOOD

9:00 p.m.
ARIANNY CELESTE PRE-PARTY
Liberty Grand
25 British Columbia Drive – Exhibition Place
Toronto, ON
cover charge applies

9:30 p.m.
“FIGHTVILLE” SCREENING AT THE HOT DOCS FESTIVAL
Documentary about the small-town MMA scene featuring UFC 131 fighter Dustin Poirier and TUF 13 Finale fighter Tim Credeur – both fighters will be at this screening.
Winter Garden Theatre
189 Yonge Street
Toronto
tickets $14, click to order

10:00 PM
MMA WEEKEND PARTY WITH SEAN SHERK, SPENCHER FISHER AND BRENDAN SCHAUB
Tryst Nightclub
82 Peter Street
Toronto ON
cover charge applies

Friday, April 29

10 a.m. – 6 p.m. ET
UFC FAN EXPO
Direct Energy Centre
100 Princes’ Blvd., Toronto, ON
Passes available at UFCFanExpo.com

QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSIONS AT THE EXPO
There are several Q&A session scheduled for the UFC Fan Expo where the mic is open to attendees to fire off questions at several UFC personalities.
10 a.m. ET – UFC announcer Bruce Buffer
12:30 p.m. ET – UFC president Dana White
2 p.m. ET – UFC broadcaster Joe Rogan, hosted by fellow broadcaster Mike Goldberg
4:30 p.m. ET – Chuck Liddell, hosted by Mike Goldberg

12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
PHIL DAVIS AUTOGRAPH SIGNING
Dewalt
127B Aviva Park Drive
Woodbridge, ON L4L 9C1

1:45 p.m.
“FIGHTVILLE” SCREENING AT THE HOT DOCS FESTIVAL
Documentary about the small-town MMA scene featuring UFC 131 fighter Dustin Poirier and TUF 13 Finale fighter Tim Credeur.
Isabel Bader Theatre
93 Charles Street West
Toronto
tickets $14, click to order

2:00 – 5:00 p.m. ET
UFC 129 SUPER 7 AND WEIGH-IN EVENT
Ricoh Coliseum – Direct Energy Centre
100 Princes’ Blvd., Toronto
2:00 p.m. ET Doors
3:15 p.m. ET ‘SUPER 7’ – UFC Champions presentation
First-ever public gathering of all seven UFC champions, a truly unique media and fan experience.
4:00 p.m. ET Fighters on Scale

Fans who purchased UFC Fan Expo VIP packages will be granted first admission to the UFC 129 weigh-in. UFC Fight Club members will then be admitted. To gain entry, you must CLICK HERE to RSVP and print your confirmation, OR present your UFC Fight Club member card. There will be NO exceptions. Please bring photo identification. Each Fight Club member may bring one (1) guest. General Public – including UFC Fan Expo attendees – will be granted admission to the weigh-in following UFC Fight Club members.

7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
BUD LIGHT PARTY WITH MATT MITRIONE
Loose Moose Bar and Grill
146 Front Street West
Toronto, ON M5J 1G2

7:00pm –  9:30pm
WOUNDED WARRIORS FUNDRAISER
With Krzysztof Soszynski, Sean Sherk, Jim Miller and Joe Lauzon – raise funds and awareness for this great charity that supports Canadian soldiers who have been injured serving their country.
Richmond Hill Honda
77 16th Avenue
Richmond Hill, ON

8:00 p.m.
JOE ROGAN ULTIMATE COMEDY! SHOW
Massey Hall
178 Victoria Street
Toronto, ON M5B 1T7
tickets $35.50 – $55.50 – click to purchase

9:00 p.m.
UFC TAKE OVER TORONTO PARTY WITH 20+ FIGHTERS
Muzik
15 Saskatchewan Road
Toronto, ON M6K 3G3
tickets $20, for VIP reservations and tickets call 416 595 9900

10:00 p.m.
PRE-FIGHT PARTY WITH RASHAD EVANS AND MIGUEL TORRES
Guvernment Night Club
132 Queens Quay East
Toronto
cover charge applies – order tickets/line pass here

10:00 PM
PRE-FIGHT PARTY WITH JOSH KOSCHECK
Tryst Nightclub
82 Peter Street
Toronto ON
cover charge applies

10:00 p.m.
XYIENCE PARTY WITH JON JONES
Century Room
580 King Street West
Toronto, ON
cover charge applies

Saturday, April 30

10 a.m. – 5 p.m. ET
UFC FAN EXPO
Direct Energy Centre
100 Princes’ Blvd., Toronto
Passes available at UFCFanExpo.com

QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSIONS AT THE EXPO
There are several Q&A session scheduled for the UFC Fan Expo where the mic is open to attendees to fire off questions at several UFC personalities.
11 a.m. ET – Rules and judging seminar with referee Herb Dean
12:30 p.m. ET – UFC director of Canadian operations Tom Wright
2 p.m. ET – Strikeforce fighter and Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker, hosted by commentator Todd Harris

1:00 pm – 3:00 p.m.
PHIL DAVIS MORTAL KOMBAT AUTOGRAPH SESSION
EB games
267 Yonge Street
TORONTO, M5B 2H1

4:00 – 5:30 p.m.
BUD LIGHT PARTY WITH COLE MILLER
Loose Moose Bar and Grill
146 Front Street West
Toronto, ON M5J 1G2

4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
BUD LIGHT PARTY WITH MATT MITRIONE
Real Sports Bar & Grill
15 York Street
Toronto, ON M5J

5:00 p.m. – 12:30 a.m. ET
UFC 129: ST-PIERRE vs SHIELDS
Rogers Centre
1 Blue Jays Way, Toronto
5:00 p.m. ET – Doors Open
6:00 p.m. ET – First Bout
Arena sold out – check StubHub for tickets and Ticketmaster.ca for late-release seats

9:00 PM
TAPOUT AFTERPARTY
Musik
15 Saskatchewan Road
Toronto, ON M6K 3G3
cover charge applies

10:00 p.m.
HEADRUSH PARTY WITH SEAN PIERSON
Cheval
606 King Street West
Toronto, 416-363-4933
cover charge applies

10:00 p.m.
AFTERPARTY WITH RANDY COUTURE
Mansion
102 Peter St
Toronto ON
cover charge applies – order tickets/line pass here

10:00 PM
AFTERPARTY WITH FRANK MIR
Tryst Nightclub
82 Peter Street
Toronto ON
cover charge applies

10:00 P.M.
AFTERPARTY WITH Yves Jabouin, John Makdessi and Ivan Menjivar
XS
261 Richmond Street West
Toronto, ON M5V 1X2
cover charge applies

Sunday, May 1

10:00 p.m.
DAY-AFTER PARTY WITH CHUCK LIDDELL
Tattoo Rock
567 Queen Street West
Toronto, ON M5V 2B6
cover charge applies

10:00 p.m.
XYIENCE CLOSING PARTY WITH DAN HARDY
Cheval
606 King Street West
Toronto, 416-363-4933
cover charge applies

Shinya Aoki Draws Willamy “Chiquerim” Freire At Dream 17 in Japan

Shinya Aoki has his opponent for the upcoming Dream 17 show in Japan as he will face former UFC lightweight Willamy “Chiquerim” Freire on the May card.

Sources close to the negotiations confirmed the bout to MMAWeekly.com on Monday.

Shinya Aoki (27-5) returns home to Japan after a successful turn in Strikeforce for his last fight, where he defeated Lyle Beerbohm by submission. Aoki erased the memories of his disastrous New Year’s Eve showing where he was knocked out in mixed rules fight against Yuichiro Nagashima.

In traditional MMA however, Aoki has won his last four fights in a row including a quick submission over Tatsuya Kawajiri last year.

Stepping into the lion’s den to face Aoki on his home turf will be former UFC fighter Willamy Freire (18-4) who ended up with only one fight in the Octagon, a decision loss to Waylon Lowe in January.

Outside of that loss, Freire had won 11 fights in a row including a victory over current Bellator upstart Patricky “Pitbull” Freire.

The bout between Aoki and Freire will be a featured bout alongside the first rounds of the Dream Bantamweight Grand Prix.

Gracie: GSP Cannot Hold Shields Down

Will Georges St. Pierre (left) will be able to hold Jake Shields down? | Stephen Fernandez / Splash News

---

Georges St. Pierre has shown a variety of skills in his domination of the UFC welterweight division, but his ability to take down opponents and control them has perhaps been the most overwhelming part of his game.

Cesar Gracie does not think St. Pierre can control UFC 129 title challenger Jake Shields, though.

“I’ve had some pretty good guys try to hold Jake down. It’s not going to happen,” said Gracie, Shields’ trainer, during a “Savage Dog Show” interview on the Sherdog Radio Network. “You can’t hold Jake down. You can’t just be on top of him and hold him.”

Shields has not lost since December 2004. En route to racking up 15 straight wins, he has also honed a dominant grappling game. That’s the approach Gracie believes he’ll use to upset St. Pierre.

“Superior grappling, I believe, is the way to win it,” Gracie said. “… I can see Jake putting a lot of pressure on this guy. You can train for Jake, but there’s really no one out there like him is the problem. It’s hard to get a guy that mimics [him]. You really don’t understand the feel of it until you train with him.”

Gracie thinks GSP’s strategy could involve sticking and moving on the feet and trying to stuff Shields’ takedowns. The UFC champion will be both the betting favorite and the fans’ favorite. With 55,000 tickets sold for the April 30 event at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, come fight time it may seem as if Shields is taking on all of Canada.

“Jake is fighting in foreign territory up in Canada,” Gracie said. “It’s going to be overwhelming. It’s going to be just huge. He has to stay focused. I’ve seen a lot of good guys not fight to their potential because it’s a big arena.”

Still, Gracie likes his fighter’s chances to win a UFC title.

“If the Jake that I know at the gym shows up at his best, I think he’ll definitely win this fight,” Gracie said. “But I also understand there’s a lot of factors. I know GSP is a great fighter. I’m really interested to see what’s going to happen. I just know that Jake has the tools to also win this fight. I think he can get it done.”

UFC Rio: Maiquel Falcao vs. Tom Lawlor In the Works for Card in Brazil

It appears the UFC is targeting a fight between Maiquel Falcao and Tom Lawlor at UFC 134 in Brazil.

A source close to the match-up confirmed to MMAWeekly.com that the bout is currently in the works for the August fight card.  MMAjunkie.com first reported the pending fight.

Falcao (26-3, 1 NC) has seen a lot of fights throughout his career, but only made his UFC debut in November of last year at UFC 123: Rampage vs. Machida. In his first UFC fight, Falcao took on Gerald Harris en route to a unanimous decision. He was set to face Alessio Sakara at UFC on Versus 3, but was forced out of the match-up due to an injury he experienced in the months leading up to the card.

The animated and always entertaining Lawlor (7-3, 1 NC) is a veteran of five UFC fights and was last seen giving Patrick Cote his UFC walking papers, defeating the Canadian fighter at UFC 121: Lesnar vs. Velasquez. The win was Lawlor’s first after dropping his previous two campaigns to Joe Doerksen and Aaron Simpson. The Team Quest fighter will look to continue his winning ways against a dangerous veteran in Falcao.

The card popularly known as “UFC: Rio” is scheduled to take place on Aug. 27 at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.